INDIA. 



331 



British inspecting officers, numbered 18,114 in 1897. 

 The Government keeps 2 small ironclad turret 

 ships for coast defense, besides a dispatch vessel, 

 2 torpedo gunboats, several transports, 7 first- 

 class torpedo boats, and a submarine mining flotilla 

 of 8 vessels. Modern breechloading guns have 

 been mounted in coast batteries at Bombay, Ka- 

 rachi, and Aden, at the mouth of the Hugli, and at 

 Rangoon. Upward of Rx 4,500,000 has been ex- 

 pended on special defenses. On the northwest 

 frontier great sums have been spent on the Sind 

 and Pishin Railroad, on strategic roads, on fortifica- 

 tions and military establishments at Quetta, includ- 

 ing an advanced position covering the place, on 

 defenses for tunnels and bridges, on fortifications 

 for the Indus crossings at Attok and Sukktir, on an 

 intrenched camp at Rawal Pindi, a defensible post 

 at Multan, and an arsenal at Ferozepore, and on a 

 large number of minor defensive works. 



Commerce and Production. The area culti- 

 vated in British India in 1896 was 188,921,010 acres 

 out of 742,240,110 acres surveyed. The acreage of 

 the principal crops was as follows : Rice, 69,160,351 ; 

 wheat, 18,580.832; other grains, 84,227,474: 'oil 

 seeds, 12,844,062; cotton, 9,600,616; sugar cane, 

 2,930,593; jute, 2,248,593; indigo, 1,569,869; to- 

 bacco, 1,111,973; tea, 406,478; coffee, 134,279. The 

 cultivation of the poppy is permitted only in cer- 

 tain districts of Bengal and the Northwest Prov- 

 inces and Oudh, and for local consumption in the 

 Punjab. The opium grown in the native states of 

 Rajputana and Central India, besides paying heavy 

 export duties to the native rulers, is taxed by the 

 Indian Government at the rate of Rx 60 or Rx 62^ 

 a chest. In British India cultivators of the poppy 

 are obliged to sell their entire crop at a fixed price 

 to the Government, which prepares it for market in 

 the factories at Patna and Ghazipur, and disposes 

 of it in monthly auction sales in Calcutta, supply- 

 ing also the excise department with the small quan- 

 tity needed for Indian consumption and keeping 

 back in good seasons a reserve sufficient to make up 

 the deficiencies in poor years. Of the cultivated 

 area, as given above, 24,901,684 acres are cropped 

 twice a year, making the total area under crops 

 213,331,744 acres. The area irrigated by canals, 

 tanks, wells, and other means, counting twice over 

 the land that is irrigated for double crops, amounts 

 to 26,737,083 acres. The Government works irri- 

 gate 9,999,319 acres, major works 7,955,529, and 

 minor works 2,043,790 acres. The gross revenue 

 realized is Rx 3,039,860. The forests preserved by 

 the state cover 76,400 square miles, having in- 

 creased from 17,705 acres in 1877. There were 147 

 cotton mills, with 37,278 looms and 3,844,307 spin- 

 dles in operation in 1896, giving employment to 

 146,244 persons, while 78,889 were employed in 29 

 jute mills. There were also 6 woolen mills, with 

 530 looms and 18,658 spindles. The breweries pro- 

 duced 6,313,946 gallons of beer in 1896. 



The total value of the imports in 1897 was Rx 

 71.1)14,697, and of exports Rx 99,880,660. The im- 

 ports of live animals were valued at Rx 367,458, 

 and exports at Rx 177,967; imports of articles of 

 food and drink at Rx 8,848,889, and exports at Rx 

 25,338,844: imports of hardware and cutlery at Rx 

 1,557,742, and exports at Rx 22.914; imports of 

 mHals at Rx 5.462,773, and exports at Rx 118,903; 

 imports of machinery at Rx 3,510,190, and exports 

 at Rx 1,027; imports of railroad materials at Rx 

 2,661,717, and exports at Rx 4,793; imports of 

 chemicals, drugs, and colors at Rx 1,890,124, and 

 exports at Rx 13,907,521 ; imports of oils at Rx 

 3,4:59,150, and exports at Rx 608,789; imports of 

 raw materials at Rx 3.610,521, and exports at Rx 

 39,305,221 ; imports of yarns and textile fabrics at 

 Rx 34,042,980, and exports at Rx 14,073,606 ; im- 



ports of apparel at Rx 1,516,423, and exports at Rx 

 190,790; imports of all other articles at Rx 6,006,- 

 730, and exports at Rx 6,130,285. The imports of 

 cotton manufactures were Rx 29,750,175 in value; 

 of silk, raw and manufactured, Rx 2,242,157 ; of 

 sugar, raw and refined, Rx 3,151,829; of woolen 

 goods, Rx 1,692,535; of coal, Rx 979,022; of pro- 

 visions, Rx 1,549,816 ; of salt, Rx 628,544 ; of spices, 

 Rx 604,674; of glass, Rx 704,186; of drugs, Rx 

 772,097; of paper, Rx 384,280; of umbrellas, Rx 

 306,943 ; of grain and pulse, Rx 543,135 ; of dyeing 

 and tanning materials, Rx 731,347. The ex'ports 

 of raw cotton were Rx 12,970,089 and of manufac- 

 tured cotton, Rx 8,496,474 in value; of raw jute, 

 Rx 10,550,577; of manufactured jute, Rx 5,213,930: 

 of rice, Rx 11,947,586 ; of wheat, Rx 836,395 ; of 

 seeds, Rx 8,011,680; of opium, Rx 8,022,923; of 

 hides and skins, Rx 7,001,370; of tea, Rx 8,124,548; 

 of indigo, Rx 4,370,757 ; of other dyes and tans. Rx 

 638,936 ; of coffee, Rx 1.585.039 ; of wool, Rx 1,241,- 

 497; of spices, Rx 497,056; of lac, Rx 1,399,862: of 

 sugar, Rx 511,661 ; of raw silk and cocoons, Rx 511,- 

 661 ; of manufactured silk, Rx 159,841 ; of oils, Rx 

 608,789; of timber, Rx 798,686; of woolen manu- 

 factures, Rx 202,032 ; of provisions, Rx 949,743 : of 

 saltpeter, Rx 572,164. The extent of the trade with 

 the principal foreign countries is shown in the fol- 

 lowing table, which gives the merchandise imports 

 and the exports of Indian produce only: 





As a consequence of plague and famine, imports 

 in the year ending March 31, 1898, fell off Rx 

 2,520,000 and exports Rx 6,100,000. The total trade 

 amounted to Rx 163,170,000, of which Rx 69,390,000 

 represent imports and Rx 93,780,000 exports. In 

 the importation of piece goods there was a decline 

 of Rx 3,460,000: in other manufactured articles, Rx 

 1,260,000; in raw materials, Rx 780.000; in machin- 

 ery. Rx 780,000. In foodstuffs the imports increased 

 Rx 1,890,000, of which Rx 1.630,000 was the increase 

 in sugar. Metals, mineral oils, railroad materials, 

 chemicals, and cotton yarn also showed large in- 

 creases. The import of salt, which comes from 

 Great Britain, increased over 100,000 hundred- 

 weight. Sugar is imported in greater quantities 

 from Germany and Austria and in less from Mauri- 

 ritius. The decline in exports was distributed 

 throughout the list. Cotton decreased nearly Rx 

 4,100,000, and opium, indigo, tea, rice, and every ar- 

 ticle of food, except wheat, showed large decreases, 

 also jute, cotton yarn, and piece goods, whereas oil 

 seeds and other raw materials increased in the 

 amount exported. In wheat the increase of Rx 500,- 

 000 lakhs was but small, following upon a famine 

 year. The production of coal in India has increased 

 so fast that the imports in 1896 had fallen to a fifth 

 of the domestic production, which was 3,750,000 

 tonr. against 2,750,000 tons in 1894. The imports of 



